“I’m definitely sick of taking hard hits,” Griffin said after the Clippers’ shootaround Monday. “…There’s a point, I can’t remember what game it was, in my mind where I thought this is kind of ridiculous. I’m sick of it, but it’s going to keep on happening…

“It’s affected me this year a lot, especially with the referees,” he said. “I’m just getting frustrated and getting my self in trouble with officials.”

Griffin and Rose have joined an illustrious club with a long history in the NBA — star players other teams foul hard.

These are two guys who get to the rim and don’t shy away from contact doing so. They are two guys who are strong — if your goal is to wrap them up and make them earn it from the line you had better come hard or they will power through and get the and-1. Fouls are part of the defense against stars and you get hit hard. Sometimes without a call.

You’re going to get more of those fouls if you are Griffin and shooting 52 percent from the free throw line. Fouling you is a smart strategy.

Griffin and Rose are responding with another age-old NBA move — trying to reach the referees through the media. Working the officials is as much a part of the game as dribbling. You do it at the games — although Griffin has pushed that a little too far this year at points, something it sounds like he recognizes.

Griffin and Rose also both seem to realize this isn’t going to stop.

Whether it is LeBron James or Kobe Bryant now, Michael Jordan before them, and a long string of stars extending to before George Mikan laced up his Converse — stars get treated physically. It doesn’t mean the league should tolerate what Jason Smith did (it shouldn’t) but if you are a star now you pay a physical price.

This is the thing why D-Rose and Griffin are totally different. Not in stardom, but according to their physical structures.

Griffin is a man-beast. Sure, I agree he flops and totally offensive fouls, but to bring him down is going to take some effort. This is the same reason why Dwight gets hit hard but it seems normal. Simply hitting their elbow is not enough to make them miss the shot. I think the intent is not to damage ‘em, but to at least make sure they don’t make the shot.

With D-Rose it’s different. At 190lbs, 6’3 with lightening fast speed, he gets hit hard several times. Especially that Villanueva foul. He straight up was NOT going towards the ball at all. I don’t know if he was angry, or aggravated, but that’s not smart basketball. Check out some videos too, in slow-mo, Rose would be getting an elbow to the ribs when he gets up for a lap-up, or even there is one play where he literally was dragged away from the ball.

Jordan had Oakley, and later, Rodman. It was understood if you put a hard foul on Jordan, expect Oakley or Rodman to put your star player out. Not down, but out. The Bulls don’t have anybody on their roster with the courage, or ability, to play the role of enforcer for DRose. GarPax absolutely must remedy this in the offseason. Ivan Johnson would look good in Chicago.

Blake Griffin is the Tebow of the NBA. Completely overrated. Yes he can dunk but so can EVERY player in the league along with most city parks players. As far as him getting roughed up he can give as good as he gets. Just ask Gasol about the forearm to the neck on one of Griffins dunks. It’s always thugs like Blake who yell the loudest when they get hit.

Thug? Really? I wouldn’t use that word to describe him. I know there is alot Blake hating going on right right now but he has to have some skill other than dunking other wise those guys in the city park would be playing in the NBA right now too. Shaq probably got beat up more than any other NBA star I ever watched, but I never got to see Wilt play, and he complained about fouls to, it just going to keep happening no matter what. Also if the guy can dunk on you over and over again for now, why worry about shooting a jumper, if he could make the jumper and just shot that all the time you would yell for him to take it the rim.

Yes he can do more than dunk. Been to a couple of clipper games earlier in the season. He can hit a 12 foot jump shot and has a good inside game, plus he is a good rebounder. Cut him some slack.

abchome - Apr 17, 2012 at 5:05 PM

EVERY player can dunk but how many players average 20/10?

Gasol got a forearm to the neck because he jumped into Griffin and jumped too late. Griffins pushing after the dunk is questionable though. Check “You make the call” on NBA.com for detailed explanation of some controversial calls.

A team that doesn’t play smart enought to keep players out of the paint tends to use cheap shots and hard fouls. I’ve seen Rose and Griffin fouled many times and not get the call. Even the refs seem to think that because these guys are big and tough they should just deal with the fouls that other players get calls on. No wonder they complain; it’s a matter just being fair to everyone.

I like Griffin but hes starting to get on my nerves with the tough guy stares and whining. His rookie year he just played hard and left the act behind. And the top comment was right about espn making guys superstars

The solution to this issue and a boatload of others is to clean house of all NBA officials. Replace them with guys from college, high school, international, wherever, who haven’t become jaded yet by the NBA’s fascination for ignoring the rulebook, or better yet making a rule to fit the officiating. Could we please just have your basic objective hard working referee who calls it as he sees it and abides by the rule book. No favoritism, no grudges, no chip on the shoulder, etc.

Players from the 70s & 80s are laughing at these wimps. You drive to the rack, you pay. Now, the league is about scoring and not really playing tough defensive basketball. Hell, you touch a player and it is a foul. What a joke. Just gives the refs more opportunity to control the game and decide the winner.

To all you Blake Griffin naysayers keep on clucking and scratching your behinds . The Clippers got him , the Clipper fans love him , the Clippers are going to the play-offs for the first time in a long time and the Clips are dangerous . So as far as your waa waa comments nobody in Clipper Land cares . It’s our time to rule the roost . Booya !

Back in the early 2000s when the game was more physical, Allen Iverson and Shaq could’ve said the same thing. Shaq was too big and strong to lightly foul, A.I. was too quick to not make sure you got a good hit on before he blew by you. In fact, Shaq once said he thinks Iverson takes as much abuse as he does. If you don’t hit Blake hard, you end up in a poster. If you don’t hit Rose hard he’s gonna blow by you. Sometimes he’s barely touched and get fouls called so I don’t know what he’s complaining about. Lead your team to the finals like A.I. and stop complaining, Iverson didn’t complain like that. In fact, A.I. barely got techs.

Stop crying! Ask Dwight how it feels. He and van gundy complained to the league for years and nothing was done. At least the hard fouls these 2 punks take are called flagrant unlike ALL of the fouls Dwight gets hit with. Shut up and play is what Dwight was told. So shut up and play or go play in the WNBA.